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Original poster

Books for teenage girls

68 replies

janeite · 17/10/2009 21:34

Have put this in children's but suspect that actually I may want some adult recs too.

DD1 is 14 - which books should I get her for Christmas? This year she has read all of the Twilight series plus Host; all of Jane Austen's; I Capture The Castle; To Kill A Mocking Bird; a couple of Georgette Heyers (but didn't like them); A Gathering Light and various other teenage things etc.

What next please?

And what for dd2 who is 12?

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pointyhat · 18/10/2009 15:03

HAvre you tried Anne Cassidy? Dd1 enjoyed Looking for JJ

MitchyInge · 18/10/2009 14:56

I love Rosoff but not as much as Ibbotson who is criminally under-known, I wonder if your daughter would like Jane Eagland's Wildthorn?

Tabitha Suzuma is possibly the young adult Jacqueline Wilson but I love her despite this.

Original poster
janeite · 18/10/2009 14:51

Across The Nightingale Floor is by Leanne Hearne. Dd1 read them at 11 and 12 but dd2 hasn't read them and I don't think would contemplate them (says she hates reading, as she sits wrapped up in New Moon at the mo!) as they are very wide-reaching and not easy reads as they have a lot of characters: basically they are Japanese warrior type epics! They also have quite a bit of sex, including homosexual, so again, I don't think my dd2 is ready for that, although dd1 took it all in her stride.

Am I the only one who thinks Meg Rosoff is v over-rated? I liked How I Live Now but haven't thought much at all of her others.

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MitchyInge · 18/10/2009 14:45

2nd (or 3rd) Eva Ibbotson and Meg Rosoff

also Tabitha Suzuma and I forget who wrote Prep, Curtis something I think her name is, Sittenfeld? Something like that

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 18/10/2009 14:44

DD is 12. No she hasn't read Across the Nightingale Floor. Who are they by? I'm trying to start putting the Christmas book piles together now.

Original poster
janeite · 18/10/2009 14:41

Thank you.

Witch Child is the one I read and didn't like much; totally forget why now though.

I think another Julie Hearn one might be called The Merryweather or something like that.

How old is your dd? Has she read the Across The Nightingale Floor series? They are brilliant.

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LadyGlencoraPalliser · 18/10/2009 14:35

The next two Flambards books are The Edge of the Clouds and Flambards in Summer. The last one is Flambards Divided which was written much later I think.
Celia Rees - I quite liked Witch Child and Sorceress. I must give them to DD1 and see what she thinks. Also Ivy, thanks for reminding me, I got it a couple of years ago and had put it away for later.

lucysnowe · 18/10/2009 14:26

The Changeover - Margaret Mahy - a really lovely book for teenage girls, all about how lovely puberty is etc. seriously, tho, it's excellent. ALSO P&P and some Georgette Heyers.

TheFoosa · 18/10/2009 14:19

she also loves The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

Original poster
janeite · 18/10/2009 14:19

Ooh I liked Ivy - have met Julie Hearn - she was v nice. Her others are good too but the only one I can remember at the moment is 'Follow Me Down'. Does your dd like Linda Newberry as well? She is v good.

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TheFoosa · 18/10/2009 14:16

my dn is also 14, she raids my bookshelves all the time, has recently enjoyed:

memoirs of a geisha
the thirteenth tale
small island
ivy - Julie Hearn

Original poster
janeite · 18/10/2009 13:59

Flambards is on the list. They're both read the first one - what are the others called?

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BonsoirAnna · 18/10/2009 13:53

Flambards! I was looking for that word! Very good.

Original poster
janeite · 18/10/2009 13:37

Eva I v good suggestion - it's in my shopping basket!

Not Ann Rice - she's had enough of vampires now I think and tbh I don't think they're much good.

Does anybody rate Celia Rees? I didn't think much of the one I read but they have a set of hers available too.

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LadyGlencoraPalliser · 18/10/2009 12:15

Has anyone said Flambards? Agree with Anna about Greengage Summer. If she likes vampires, what about Anne Rice, or is that too strong for a 14-year-old, ages since I read them and can't remember.
If your DD2 hasn't read much of Eva Ibbotson's older books (A Company of Swans etc) get thee over to Book People and order their brilliant 5-book set.

Original poster
janeite · 17/10/2009 23:12

Before I Die by Jenny Downham - dd1 has read it but not dd2

Just Listen by Sara Dessen (really loved by many teens) - I don't know of this one - will look

Noughts and crosses by Malorie Blackman - both read it

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver - both read it

My Desperate Love Diary by Liz Rettig - googling this one now

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff - dd1 has read it

Thank you - deffo on the right lines.

I think they've both had their fill of vampires now. DD1 has read P&P with Zombies too and loved it - and Sense And Sensibility With Seamonsters!

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teamcullen · 17/10/2009 23:05

DD has read the Twilight saga to death this year.

Shes now reading The Vampire Diarys which she is loving and is soon to be realised as a tv series.

bamboostalks · 17/10/2009 22:53

These are not classics per se but they are very special books for teens that I remember reading.

Jacob I Have Loved by Katherine Paterson
Wild Swans by Eva Ibbotson
Mel by Liz Berry (highly recommended)
Cloudy Bright by John Rowe Townsend

I loved all of the above as a teen but there are some great recent ones below which I have enjoyed. She may have read them but I would highly rate them to others.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Just Listen by Sara Dessen (really loved by many teens)
Noughts and crosses by Malorie Blackman
Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
My Desperate Love Diary by Liz Rettig
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Original poster
janeite · 17/10/2009 22:36

I wonder if dd1 might like some Wyndham too? She claims not to like fantasy/sci fi but loved the silliness that was The Host so maybe now she'd give it a go?

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BonsoirAnna · 17/10/2009 22:35

Brave New World - which I enjoyed more than Orwell, and bought and reread with great pleasure a few years ago.

Original poster
janeite · 17/10/2009 22:28

Orwell - dd1 has read Animal Farm but no others.

She's read a few Michelle Magorians, including her most recent one and read Little Women (but dd2 hasn't).

She keeps side-stepping Jane Eyre!

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ElusiveMoose · 17/10/2009 22:21

I just really identified with the Una character. Maybe it's because I can be a bit spiky and difficult .

How about Orwell, if they haven't already done it at school? Animal Farm/1984.

Might also be a bit dated (sorry, I'm trying to think back a bit ), but how about Michelle Magorian for DD2? Goodnight Mister Tom and Back Home spring to mind.

Er.....what about some other classics, if DD1 likes Austen? Little Women? Jane Eyre?

BonsoirAnna · 17/10/2009 22:07

Really? I thought the characterisation was so much more credible in The Greengage Summer than in The Peacock Spring.

My grandmother, who had a French degree and had spent a lot of time in France, and had also lived in India for many years, gave me both those books.

Original poster
janeite · 17/10/2009 22:06

Sorry - I said 'she' but actually both of them read them on holiday. Was a bit worried about the minor sex refs for dd2 but she passed no comment!

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Original poster
janeite · 17/10/2009 22:05

Judy Blume has dated quite badly imho. The dds weren't impressed with the couple I tried to force on them.

I don't think she'd read A Suitable Boy tbh.

Lowbrow is fine - she read the Shopaholic books this year too and loved them!

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